2011: Arnold Palmer Invitational Title
Laird's good form in the latter part of 2010 continued in early 2011. In February, he tied for 3rd in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, lifting his world ranking to 41. In March, he tied for 10th in the WGC-Cadillac Championship and tied for 5th in the Transitions Championship, his ranking rising to 40.
On 27 March 2011, Laird claimed the biggest title of his career at the Arnold Palmer Invitational taking the first prize of $1,080,000. After three rounds of 70, 65 and 70 Laird had a two shot lead over Spencer Levin with Steve Marino and Bubba Watson a further two strokes behind. Laird dropped three shots on the front nine and then had a double-bogey at the 11th. At this stage Levin was also five over par for his round but Marino was two under par, resulting in a seven shot swing and leaving Laird three shots behind Marino. Laird scored three birdies and a bogey in the next five holes, while Marino scored a bogey and then a double-bogey at the par three 17th hole, leaving Laird now with a two shot lead. However Marino birdied the 18th, after holing an eight foot putt, leaving Laird needing to par the last hole to win. His second shot was on the green but eighty three feet away. He two-putted for the victory. This ensured that he became first ever European winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. After the tournament his world ranking rose to 21.
By qualifying for the 2010 Tour Championship, Laird also qualified for his first Masters. Rounds of 74, 69, 69 and 73 left him tied 20th, his best finish in a major. However he failed to make the cut in the other three majors.
Following his victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational he had other good results, finishing tied for 9th in the Valero Texas Open, tied for 10th in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and tied for 11th in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He finished 17th in the "regular season" FedEx Cup standings. Despite finishing tied for 12th in the BMW Championship he finished 31st in the FedEx Cup standings and did not qualify for The Tour Championship. Laird and Stephen Gallacher, representing Scotland, tied for 4th in the World Cup. By the end of 2011, Laird's world ranking had dropped to 47.
Read more about this topic: Martin Laird, Professional Career
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